1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the drying of wet articles generally and, more particularly, to a novel dryer in the form of a portable rack upon which, for example, wet clothes can be hung for drying and which rack, although foldable to a very compact form, provides a total length of clothes hanging means which is on the order of almost 10 times the floor area taken by the rack, in terms of lineal feet per square foot.
2. Background Art
In many confined living quarters, such as apartments and boats, for example, outdoor drying lines or wash lines are limited or unavailable and, in many cases, are actually prohibited. For these reasons, residents of such living quarters have a need for a portable drying rack on which wet clothes are hung for drying. Such a rack may be used indoors within the apartment or boat or outdoors on a balcony, patio, or deck. The unit must be stable in use and portable so that it can be conveniently moved from one place to another and should fold conveniently for storage in a small area.
A number of indoor drying racks have been designed and are on the market but they all have one or another of various drawbacks. For example, many of them will not hold a full load of clothes taken from a clothes washer. Others are not conveniently foldable for storage and still others are unduly expensive or unstable in use. None is known which conveniently provides for the drying of sweaters the heavier ones of which typically drip water on whatever surface over which they are hung. Furthermore, none is known which provides for a high density of drying clothes in a relatively small floor area. Many require the loosening and/or tightening of fasteners to deploy them in their open positions.
Accordingly, it is a principal object of the present invention to provide a drying rack which is easily portable yet which provides for a high density of drying articles in a relatively small floor area.
It is another object of the invention to provide such a drying rack which is suitable for drying heavy articles such as sweaters without the heavy articles dripping water on the surface on which the dryer is placed.
An additional object of the invention is to provide such a drying rack which may be readily compactly folded.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide such a drying rack which may be deployed in its unfolded position without the need to loosen and/or tighten fasteners.
Other objects of the invention, as well as particular features and advantages thereof, will be elucidated in, or apparent from, the following description and the accompanying drawing figures.